In recent years there has been a great increase in the amount of computer technology that is involved in daily life. In today's world, computer technology is involved in many aspects of a person's day. Many devices being used today by consumers have a small computer inside of the device. These small computers come in varying sizes and degrees of sophistication. These small computers include everything from one microcontroller to a fully-functional complete computer system. For example, these small computers may be a one-chip computer, such as a microcontroller, a one-board type of computer, such as a controller, a typical desktop computer, such as an IBM-PC compatible, etc.
The small computers, (which can be rather large computers depending on the particular need which is being met by the computer), almost always have one or more processors at the heart of the computer. The processor(s) usually are interconnected to different external inputs and outputs and function to manage the particular device. For example, a processor in a vending machine for soda pop may be connected to the buttons used to select the pop, to the switch that allows a pop to drop down to a user, and to lights to indicate that the machine does not have any more pop of a particular variety.
Computer technology is involved in many aspects of today's world. Many appliances, devices, etc., include one or more small computers. For example, refrigerators, telephones, typewriters, automobiles, vending machines, and many different types of industrial equipment all have small computers, or processors, inside of them. Computer software runs the processors of these computers and tells the processors what to do to carry out certain tasks. For example, the computer software running on a processor in a vending machine may cause a soda pop to drop to a user when the correct change has been entered by a user.
These types of small computers that are a part of a device, appliance, tool, etc., are often referred to as embedded systems. The term “embedded system” usually refers to computer hardware and software that is part of a larger system. Embedded systems usually do not have typical input and output devices such as a keyboard, mouse, and/or monitor. Generally, at the heart of each embedded system is one or more processor(s).
Typically the embedded systems used today with various appliances, devices, etc., do not have a lot of storage capability. As a result, the amount of data that can be stored on the embedded systems is limited. With only limited storage, an embedded system may not have as many features and capabilities as it could have if it had more available storage. Memory is often conserved in these embedded systems that monitor, control and otherwise use electronic devices.
Almost all desktop computer systems include memory management capabilities at the processor level (hardware), firmware level (the software embedded into the hardware), and at the operating system level. However, in many embedded devices, these types of memory management capabilities are not available. For example, many of the embedded environments include an 8-bit or 16-bit microcontroller, where no substantial operating system or memory management features are present. In these types of environments, any program code is typically developed and loaded onto the embedded device by the manufacturer before the device is shipped, after which software upgrades are rarely if ever even contemplated.
Because many embedded devices do not have extensive memory management capabilities, it is often difficult to easily upgrade the software, upgrade modules, upgrade components and/or to add new software, new components, new modules, new features, new extensions, etc. Some embedded systems have been connected to computer networks to allow some communication between the embedded system and a larger computer system. However, because embedded systems are often not equipped with the functionality to effectively and efficiently communicate with other computer systems, the communication capability is usually limited. In addition, the means for communicating with embedded systems is often a slower type of communication pathway and, accordingly, only limited amounts of data are passed to and from the embedded systems.
Because of the constrained memory resources on the embedded systems and because of the typically limited communications means, often only limited interaction from a computer network with the embedded system is available. This interaction is often of limited use because of the difficulty in communicating with the different parts of the embedded system.
As mentioned, it is often difficult to easily upgrade the software of an embedded system once it is out in the field and in use. As a result, older embedded systems typically have older versions of software, while newer embedded systems have newer software. If a computer system on a computer network needed to communicate with a plurality of embedded systems or devices, it would need to be programmed to communicate with each particular version of software that may be installed in embedded systems. Programming and maintaining a computer on a computer network to communicate with many different versions of software of embedded systems would be burdensome and difficult for many companies and/or manufacturers whose main focus is not to simply service embedded systems.
As computer technology and the use of embedded systems continue to expand and be used in additional areas, there will be an increasing need to be able to communicate with and interact with these embedded systems. In addition, there will be ever-increasing needs in the areas of controlling, monitoring, updating and otherwise servicing embedded systems and/or embedded devices.